I mean, even as someone who grew up with it, the film drags a bit from the time we leave South America until the gunfight in Marion's bar.

We've been exposed to so many fast paced movies that I really miss this kind of "dragging". Especially, if it contains scenes so beautifully written as Indy's briefing to the government agents or his meeting with Marion.

We've been exposed to so many fast paced movies that I really miss this kind of "dragging". Especially, if it contains scenes so beautifully written as Indy's briefing to the government agents or his meeting with Marion.

I miss the days when action sequences felt "earned", something that you built up to and that made them special. I always felt the Indy films did a solid job of spacing them out.

There are moments when the films chain them together. The last half hour of TOD is non-stop action but we had to go through some dialogue and drama scenes to get there. Once Indy and the gang are captured we have about 15-20 minutes of downtime until the climax kicks off. Raiders gives us a lot of exposition, research, and discovery before Indy and Marion escape the pit. We slowly build up to those sequences and it's a fantastic balance of drama, comedy, and intrigue along the way. It's one of my favorite aspects of the series, hence why I think a slightly less action-oriented Indy V could work.

There are moments when the films chain them together. The last half hour of TOD is non-stop action but we had to go through some dialogue and drama scenes to get there. Once Indy and the gang are captured we have about 15-20 minutes of downtime until the climax kicks off. Raiders gives us a lot of exposition, research, and discovery before Indy and Marion escape the pit. We slowly build up to those sequences and it's a fantastic balance of drama, comedy, and intrigue along the way. It's one of my favorite aspects of the series, hence why I think a slightly less action-oriented Indy V could work.

The downtime is to take a break from the action and calm down a bit to get more involved in the story and characters. Non-stop action after a while gets old and tedious, which is why action has to be used in moderation to serve the plot and characters, not the other way around. This is something all the Indy films do very well but especially the first two. There's a building sense of excitement as you get closer to the major action scenes in those.

Another thing about TLC, anyone else feel it sort of lost the "pulpy" feeling of the first two? ROTLA and especially TOD really embraced the pulp, vintage adventure serial roots of Indy and felt so much like those old serials. TOD in particular with it's storyline, occult themes and use of lighting and shadows also evoked 50s-era EC Horror comics. With TLC it felt like a lot of that was lost. ROTLA and TOD felt like old-school adventure serials with a budget and a master crew at the helm.

Another thing about TLC, anyone else feel it sort of lost the "pulpy" feeling of the first two? ROTLA and especially TOD really embraced the pulp, vintage adventure serial roots of Indy and felt so much like those old serials. TOD in particular with it's storyline, occult themes and use of lighting and shadows also evoked 50s-era EC Horror comics. With TLC it felt like a lot of that was lost. ROTLA and TOD felt like old-school adventure serials with a budget and a master crew at the helm.

I agree with you but in essence, by leaving the pulp element behind, Crusade was the evolution of adventure films that most filmmakers have followed to our days.

The downtime is to take a break from the action and calm down a bit to get more involved in the story and characters. Non-stop action after a while gets old and tedious, which is why action has to be used in moderation to serve the plot and characters, not the other way around. This is something all the Indy films do very well but especially the first two. There's a building sense of excitement as you get closer to the major action scenes in those.

Another thing about TLC, anyone else feel it sort of lost the "pulpy" feeling of the first two? ROTLA and especially TOD really embraced the pulp, vintage adventure serial roots of Indy and felt so much like those old serials. TOD in particular with it's storyline, occult themes and use of lighting and shadows also evoked 50s-era EC Horror comics. With TLC it felt like a lot of that was lost. ROTLA and TOD felt like old-school adventure serials with a budget and a master crew at the helm.

I can see that to some extent but it never really bothered me. The move away from pulp felt like a natural turn for the series at that point, though it would be nice to see it come full circle and make a return in the next film.

I think it was a major aspect of what made the first two movies as good as they were and it was a little disappointing they did away with it come TLC. KOTCS didn't really have it either, I'm hopeful 5 brings back the pulpy feeling to end the series on a proper note.

Also forgot to say before and it's a rather minor nitpitck, but when Indy and Elsa are in the catacombs and wading through the petroleum-filled waters, it should've lit up when Indy had the torch. Those catacombs would've been one big gasoline can with all that petroleum and the fact the torch never sets anything ablaze is in itself pretty unbelievable. I get that a lantern wasn't availble, but it would've been far safer to be used in that scene.

In that scene Indy himself would have been set ablaze since he fell in there. But all the Indy movies have such improbabilities. What are the chances of hitting 3 germans with the same bullet, land a mine cart on track after a flight in the air, or surviving a trek tried to a submarine? These improbabilities are part of these films' origins.

All of the films have implausible and unrealistic stunts and such, true. I was just pointing out that TLC often gets a free pass for all of it's OTT and unrealistic moments while people always like to rag on the raft stunt in TOD and of course nuke the fridge.

I love all three of the original trilogy films, but I would probably say that LC is indeed my least favorite of the three. Though, at worst, I'd rank it a 9.75/10, I just feel like they dropped off quite a bit with the crazy action. The story was solid as could be, but the action was a bit lacking. Could have been a lot more intense and packed. But whereas the action in the first two was cranked up to 11, the action in LC was right around 7.

No question the worst of them all is KOTCS. I've seen it probably 3-4 times total and I really have no interest in seeing it again. At least not any time soon.

When I first saw TLC, I was a bit disappointed. I enjoyed it, but it felt so light compared to TOD, and didn't evoke that same sense of danger. Indy seemed to have lost some of his edge that he had in Raiders and TOD. I also thought the opening segment with Young Indy just cut into the amount of time we got to spend with "real" Indy. And the three challenges at the end felt so tame compared to the non-stop action at the end of TOD.

It's grown on me, though, and I appreciate its moments of poignancy now in a way that I guess I wasn't capable of as a kid.

When I first saw TLC, I was a bit disappointed. I enjoyed it, but it felt so light compared to TOD, and didn't evoke that same sense of danger. Indy seemed to have lost some of his edge that he had in Raiders and TOD. I also thought the opening segment with Young Indy just cut into the amount of time we got to spend with "real" Indy. And the three challenges at the end felt so tame compared to the non-stop action at the end of TOD.

It's grown on me, though, and I appreciate its moments of poignancy now in a way that I guess I wasn't capable of as a kid.

I do find it to the most emotional and powerful of the series. The father/son aspect adds an urgency and dramatic pull that's unique to the franchise. The other three have their moments but nothing quite as powerful as Henry's gentle "Indiana...let it go" near the end.